Articles originally published February 23rd, 2015. Updated October 29th, 2018. If you’re trying to build credit for the first time or improve a credit score that has been damaged by past financial problems, you may have heard advice about using a secured credit card. Using a secured card can be an effective way to establish a positive credit... Read More

The next time you speak to a debt collector, you might find yourself negotiating with a computer. And you might actually prefer that. Consumers buy toothpaste and bread without talking to a person. They get boarding passes for flights with a few swipes of a credit card or mobile phone. Why not pay off debt... Read More

Article Updated August 1, 2018. The most well-known consequence of having bad credit is trouble getting loans or credit cards, but a low credit score can also make it difficult to find a place to live. Landlords, especially large property-management companies, will likely check your credit report before approving your lease, and there are plenty of negative items that... Read More

Millennials get a bad rep. While the internet is busy circulating speculative articles about how the millennial generation is killing off napkins and fabric softener, members of that generation are just trying to scrounge enough money to keep up with increasing housing costs. Tiny homes offer an exciting living option somewhere between renting and buying... Read More

If you’re among the nearly one-third of Americans dealing with bad credit, then you may have simply accepted that you aren’t going to be able to qualify for various types of loans. But while it is increasingly difficult to qualify for loans the lower your credit score dips, it’s not altogether impossible. Even for those... Read More

Consumers with low credit scores often have to deal with limited access to credit. After all, they are by definition risky customers for creditors to do business with because their history has shown they are less likely to repay their debts than borrowers with good credit. Unfortunately, that also means that when credit is available to subprime borrowers... Read More